Once again that depends on the specific unit. Although the ones based off their Epsilon units are rather weak compared to many other similar wattage units.

FSP units range from nothing special to downright bad in most cases. Only a select few are PSUs that I'd consider to be particularly good (the new Coolermaster Silent Pro 850W and 1000W models come to mind, although even those are group regulated and the 1kW model has awful voltage regulation when crossloaded).

PC Power and Cooling was the first company to start making high end psu for pc's. Ive used em in 2 builds, and am a loyal customer. If the price is right, Corsair and Seasonic I would not hesitate in using. Ive used 1 enermax, in my old P4, and no problems whatsoever. Antec, i wont use. I used to work for Pc Medic, in atlantic Canada, and they used antec exclusively. The number of bad psu units I saw, i believe is higher then what really should be. It was quite common to have a 2-3 year old machine come in for service, and completely unrelated, the psu would be making a barely noticable high pitched squeel. The PSU would be working, but that alone qualifies it for an rma, so id swap it out, heck i wouldnt used any psu that sounds like that.
The other problem may not be exclusive to antec, but about twice a month, a system would come in with blown psu, dead motherboard, dead HD, and bad cpu fan. (One customer had a 3yr old comp, with raid 1 - he wasnt too happy with the diagnosis ) Sometimes the customer reported the system to be used with a good power surge bar, sometimes not. Now i believe this is the result of a power surge, psu blows, and takes out several components. Mind you the power in some areas of Halifax is known to be terrible. Any thoughts?

Antec, i wont use. I used to work for Pc Medic, in atlantic Canada, and they used antec exclusively. The number of bad psu units I saw, i believe is higher then what really should be. It was quite common to have a 2-3 year old machine come in for service, and completely unrelated, the psu would be making a barely noticable high pitched squeel. The PSU would be working, but that alone qualifies it for an rma, so id swap it out, heck i wouldnt used any psu that sounds like that. ?

Old Antec Truepower and Truepower 2.0 PSUs used low-quality capacitors that didn't respond well to heat and would fail prematurely. That has not been an issue for years and Antec makes some of the best consumer-grade PSUs you can find anywhere.

Quote:

Originally Posted by odis172

The other problem may not be exclusive to antec, but about twice a month, a system would come in with blown psu, dead motherboard, dead HD, and bad cpu fan. (One customer had a 3yr old comp, with raid 1 - he wasnt too happy with the diagnosis ) Sometimes the customer reported the system to be used with a good power surge bar, sometimes not. Now i believe this is the result of a power surge, psu blows, and takes out several components. Mind you the power in some areas of Halifax is known to be terrible. Any thoughts?

Not a PSU problem. A surge protector will protect a PSU from some surges, but not from dirty power, which you need a line conditioner or line-interactive UPS for.

i have used mostly antec or corsair brands. It depends on how much of a budget but i have been impressed with offerings from both. Recently i seem to be leaning more towards corsair. (it's all about the free stickers ).